Bathtime fun with Summer Infant Lil’ Luxuries Whirlpool, Bubbling Spa & Shower

Following on from my previous post, I thought I’d continue on the bath time theme by talking about another product that has really helped us make bath time as calming and as fun as possible for Violet – even in those early stages when times were really tough. We’ve gone from bath time being something of fear and dread (probably for us all!) to a really fun experience where we sing songs and have a good old splash about.

Our secret is a rather snazzy baby bath. When I saw the Summer Infant Lil’ Luxuries Whirlpool, Bubbling Spa & Shower, I just knew it was the one for us. I mean, isn’t owning a jacuzzi every girls dream? Being a bath-lover it is certainly mine and as they didn’t do them in my size, I thought maybe Violet would like a whirl (haha, get it) herself. So, yes she does own the most extravagant of baby baths, but she loves it and it’s totally changed our bath time experience so it must be doing something right!

So, whats so snazzy about this bath? Firstly, it’s a good sturdy size with plenty of room for your baby to grow, you can use either in your own bathtub or just on the floor, however I find using it inside our bath easier as you can let the water out easily and top-up the shower section with ease too. It has thick double insulated walls which helps to keep the temperature of the water warm (which is really important if you are a paranoid mother like me who uses a bath thermometer numerous times before putting her baby in). The bath has a detachable section which houses a water tank and shower unit, it’s also where the controls of the whirlpool and jets are placed.

At the moment as Violet is still too young to support herself, we are using the soft Newborn Sling that is provided with the Whirlpool Bath. It has a soft and cushioned headrest, with an ample fabric sling that really helped to keep her safe, secure and well supported during bath time. This also helps when bathing her alone as it’s tricky to hold her with one hand and access her shampoo/bubble bath with the other, so the support definitely helps the bath be slightly more ‘hands free’ in that department (although obviously I wouldn’t leave her totally unattended on there!). Only slight niggle with the newborn sling is that the fabric is quite often popping off the frame, this doesn’t seem to interfere too much but is a bit frustrating.

The super snazzy bit is the whirlpool settings – one is more of a water jet, the other is bubbles coming from the base of the bath. I’d say with the newborn sling in place, the bubbles are quite subtle as they are mainly absorbed by the sling but this is quite nice when they are so little as it’s more of a gentle massage or vibration at this stage which is calming, relaxing and not too overwhelming. I think when she can support herself and sit up unaided she will really be able to enjoy the bubbles a bit more, so far she is starting to kick her legs in the water, so she’s getting there with starting to learn to splash about!

The last feature is the shower head – the water comes from the tank rather than the mains, so you can check the temperature before you use. The shower is not amazingly powerful – which if it were a shower for me, I’d be disappointed with, but as Violet didn’t like water on her head at first, this was really handy as the water is so gentle. She doesn’t seem as affected by it as she would be if we were washing her down with a jug or even a handful of water (a side note is that I think her Waterbabies lessons have helped her with this too!)

So, as you can see from the pictures, Violet is thoroughly enjoying her baths these days and is one happy smily girl – I can’t actually wait for her to be interested in bubbles, rubber ducks and playing with beakers now! I’d definitely recommend the Summer Infant Lil’ Luxuries Whirlpool, Bubbling Spa & Shower, although I do think it has quite a high end price tag at £69.99  although I have seen it on sale on the website for £49.99 which is much more reasonable! I think we’ll also be using it for quite some time as it’s big enough to use right up to 2 years.

I absolutely love some of the Summer Infant products, I think what I love is that they take an adult sized product and shrink it down to baby size, like these amazingly cute little toilets (yes really!) which are going to be fab for potty training. Maybe we’ll have to add this to the collection down the line and create Violet a whole mini bathroom for herself one day!

Post written in collaboration with Summer Infant – all thoughts and opinions are my own